What do teen girls with Tourette syndrome–like tics in upstate New York, U.S. military and intelligence officials with an array of mysterious complaints, some victims of mass poisonings in girls schools across Iran, and Salem girls accused of witchcraft have in common? All may have experienced mass psychogenic events—better known as hysteria.
All also appear in Hysterical, a new podcast from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios. The teens displaying tics in LeRoy, New York, are the main focus of the show, which takes us on a medical mystery tour of their symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments.
